Atlas (computer)

The Atlas was one of the world's first <a href="/facts/Supercomputer/HT9NwGAN">supercomputers</a>, in use from 1962 (when it was claimed to be the most powerful computer in the world) to 1972. Atlas's capacity promoted the saying that when it went offline, half of the United Kingdom's computer capacity was lost. It is notable for being the first machine with <a href="/facts/Virtual_memory/Lw2GemF5">virtual memory</a> (at that time referred to as "one-level store") using <a href="/facts/Paging/KR889x5k">paging</a> techniques; this approach quickly spread, and is now ubiquitous.
Atlas was a <a href="/facts/Second-generation_computer/83xXSmuW">second-generation computer</a>, using <a href="/facts/Discrete_device/F3NBVv4Q">discrete</a> <a href="/facts/Bipolar_junction_transistor/9BMcGv5Q">germanium</a> <a href="/facts/Transistor/Bmr8zwL0">transistors</a>. Atlas was created in a joint development effort among the <a href="/facts/Victoria_University_of_Manchester/foAk3n6c">University of Manchester</a>, <a href="/facts/Ferranti/UA1e5VBN">Ferranti</a> and <a href="/facts/Plessey/JM0dv46r">Plessey</a>. Two other Atlas machines were built: one for <a href="/facts/BP/awvwSJ3x">BP</a> and the <a href="/facts/University_of_London/spIRAx9B">University of London</a>, and one for the <a href="/facts/Atlas_Computer_Laboratory/3dPgubJx">Atlas Computer Laboratory</a> at Chilton near <a href="/facts/Oxford/kHvWDTXW">Oxford</a>.
A derivative system was built by Ferranti for the <a href="/facts/University_of_Cambridge/0la7aX9o">University of Cambridge</a>. Called the <a href="/facts/Titan_(1963_computer)/WNoFNzxa">Titan</a>, or Atlas 2, it had a different memory organisation and ran a <a href="/facts/Time-sharing/LE5XT9Go">time-sharing</a> operating system developed by Cambridge University Computer Laboratory. Two further Atlas 2s were delivered: one to the <a href="/facts/Computer-aided_design/5gSXrmmN">CAD</a> Centre in Cambridge (later called CADCentre, then <a href="/facts/AVEVA/bmsAE4BF">AVEVA</a>), and the other to the <a href="/facts/Atomic_Weapons_Establishment/t9elVa17">Atomic Weapons Research Establishment</a> (AWRE), Aldermaston.
The University of Manchester's Atlas was decommissioned in 1971. The final Atlas, the CADCentre machine, was switched off in late 1976. Parts of the Chilton Atlas are preserved by <a href="/facts/National_Museums_Scotland/xcU0c9HS">National Museums Scotland</a> in <a href="/facts/Edinburgh/PcsoaK9h">Edinburgh</a>; the main console itself was rediscovered in July 2014 and is at <a href="/facts/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory/LuHVhXIE">Rutherford Appleton Laboratory</a> in Chilton, near <a href="/facts/Oxford/kHvWDTXW">Oxford</a>.

Atlas (computer) open-in-new

Atlas (computer)